


A New Year

by secondhand_watermelon



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: First Time, M/M, New Year's Resolutions, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, basically all the tension is somewhat unresolved despite this being about resolutions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:27:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondhand_watermelon/pseuds/secondhand_watermelon
Summary: Link hasn't made a New Year's resolution this year. Apparently, Rhett has.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 40
Kudos: 88





	A New Year

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to soho-x for reading and cheerleading!

"I don't make resolutions anymore."

They were sprawled out on the ground in Rhett's backyard, staring up at the orange-gray sky behind which stars glittered, invisible. Rhett's hair, product-free as it was so often now when he was not in front of a camera, spread out beneath his head on the damp grass like a pillowy, chaotic halo. Link glanced at it; his fingers twitched, yearning, and he clenched them into a loose fist at his side.

"You?" Rhett's voice was melodic, easy with wine, floating on the soft midnight breeze. "Since when do you not make a New Year's list? You've read one to me every January for twenty years, easily."

"People change."

Rhett spared him a glance, letting his head fall to the side before looking back up at the smoggy sky. "You don't. Not without a fight."

"Maybe that's changed, too."

Rhett chuckled. "You start seeing that therapist I recommended?"

"Nah." Link rolled his shoulders against the hard ground, one after the other, feeling his upper body twist and arch with the movement. He did not have to turn his head to know Rhett was watching; he could feel the weight of his gaze, lingering. Rhett's eyes were always on him. Sometimes he wondered what the other man saw, when he couldn't seem to look away. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe soon."

Rhett grunted his skepticism. "Maybe."

Silence settled around them again, but Link could not shake the restlessness in his body. It sparked goosebumps across his arms, twisted his belly into uneasy knots that released, too slow. His skin felt tight, too small to contain the way the scent of Rhett's hair and his wind-swept breath expanded his lungs and seeped into his veins with every inhalation. He felt entirely too _aware_ of the fact that their pinky fingers were brushing around a couple of blades of grass, that their toes bumped together amiably. He wanted to squirm, to touch Rhett more fully, to get up and leave. Anything to quell the restless energy.

He did nothing.

"I made a resolution this year," Rhett said quietly. His hand shifted, then, coming to rest more fully over Link's. His fingers fell, as if by chance, slotting themselves between Link's where his hand lay, palm down and fingers wide, against the wet earth. Link sucked in a breath, feeling the restlessness climb into his throat, sink into his pelvis. He breathed in Rhett and willed himself into stillness.

"That so?" he asked casually, too casually for the feel of Rhett's palm covering the back of his hand and the intensity of the stare he could still feel burning into him. He could turn, turn his head or his hand or his entire body. He could meet Rhett's eyes, roll over onto his side, grip Rhett's hand in return. But he stayed motionless, frozen. Waiting. 

"Yeah." Rhett offered nothing more in words; he did not need to. They had been friends for decades; Link could read his intentions in the warm dampness of his nervous palm and the heat rolling off his body to warm Link's in cascading waves. Link pulled in another shaky breath, filled his lungs with the night air and the smell of his best friend's skin, and finally found the courage to shift.

That courage drove his movements far past his intent, and he found himself hovering over Rhett, thighs straddling the taller man's hips, hands braced into the grass beside his head. Here, he could feel the warmth of Rhett's breath and see the glittering mix of emotions in his eyes. Rhett looked up at him, into him, and Link felt a shiver roll down his spine.

"You resolving things about me? About us?" he asked a bit shakily. Rhett nodded, his long curls making soft susurrations in the long grass.

"Resolving to be more honest, maybe."

Link snorted, a bit too aware of the vulnerability and intimacy of his position over his friend's body that he was nevertheless reluctant to relinquish. Years ago, he had experienced dozens of pins and "I'm dead" moves beneath this body; now, he secretly relished the position of power, and the way Rhett allowed him to press him into the earth with just the weight of his ass on Rhett's thighs. "You've never really been able to hide things from me, anyway."

"No?" It was Rhett's turn to affect casual nonchalance. His hands came up, then, catching at Link's hips and settling around them; his fingers just brushed the curve of Link's ass while his thumbs settled oh so close to the vee of his thighs. "You saw this coming?"

"Haven't we all?" Link asked, a laugh escaping his lips as he tried to find the humor in this, in anything. His grin faded, however, at the sight of Rhett's unwavering gaze. "Been avoiding it," he confessed, swallowing hard.

"Still wanna avoid it?" Rhett's thumbs worked slow circles into his jeans, over the jut of his hipbones, and Link felt an eager twitch of arousal follow the movement. He shifted his weight against Rhett's thighs, feeling the answering pulse beneath him and watching the flutter of Rhett's eyelashes.

"Yeah," he said quietly. Rhett flinched.

"You gonna?" he replied, and Link could hear the hope, the want, warm and pleading in Rhett's tone. He hesitated, and sighed.

"No," he said finally. "Been long enough, I think."

"Gonna let me tell you what I need to say?" Rhett asked roughly, and Link felt warmth coil through his lower body at the arousal now evident in his voice. He nodded, slowly.

"Good," Rhett said easily, and his hands slid up, curled around Link's shoulders, and pulled him down until the smaller man lay along the length of him. His hips were pressed into Rhett's belly this way, and he was sure Rhett could feel the evidence of his desire just as clearly as he could feel Rhett's half-hard cock pressing into his thigh. He wanted to rock his hips into the warm give of his friend's body; he wanted to roll off him in protest. Once again, he forced himself to be still.

"I'm gonna tell you everything," Rhett promised in a low voice that tickled his ear. Link was still propping himself up slightly on his forearms, and his head had fallen forward to rest beside Rhett's, hanging loosely inches from the soft grass. "But not tonight. I'm gonna take my time."

"You haven't had enough time already?" Link asked, hearing the protest, the chuckle, the want, all coloring his voice in equal measure as he fought back a smile. Rhett's hands had fallen back to his hips, and he tugged Link into him gently, urging his hips to roll down into Rhett's belly. Link exhaled, hard.

"It's been too much time," Rhett admitted. "But also, with you, it's never enough. Never enough time."

Link's eyes swam a bit with emotion, but he kept himself still, blinking away tears until Rhett pulled him down the length of his body, repositioning them so that Link could rest his head on the other man's shoulder. Link turned his face into Rhett and breathed in: skin, beard oil, grass, home. He breathed out against the side of Rhett's neck, so close to his lips, and felt Rhett shiver, felt his hips jerk upward, just enough for Link to discover that the new position meant he could feel the hard ridge of Rhett's cock against his own. He whimpered, almost soundlessly. He wanted suddenly to grab, to thrust, but he dug his fingers into Rhett's shoulders where they had settled instead.

"We gonna?" he asked breathlessly, terrified of the answer.

"No," Rhett murmured. "Not cause I don't want to. But I've got things to say, first."

"In time."

"Yeah," Rhett agreed, finally letting his lips press into Link's skin, soft and warm on the expanse of his forehead. "In time."

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in this fandom, and my first time posting online in a long time. Thank you for reading! Feel free to come find me on Tumblr at secondhand-watermelon.


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